Effects of a Nonspecific Stimulation on Tissue Radiosensitivity During the Course of Antibody Production

[摘要] Rats given 0.2 ml of a 2.0% carbon suspension subcutaneously 10 and 5 days prior to irradiation with 200 r or 500 r and immunized with Brucella melitensis 48 hr after irradiation developed higher antibody titers in a shorter period of time than rats not given the carbon suspension. Cytologic examinations of lymph nodes revealed that the carbon suspension initiated a marked stimulation of the stem cells of the lymphoreticular tissue. These cells were only slightly altered by subsequent irradiation. When the carbon suspension was given 1 hr after irradiation with 200 r and the antigen 48 hr later, antibody production proceeded as in nonirradiated rats, suggesting that the effects of irradiation on antibody production are dependent not on the mere presence of an antigen or the specific biochemical processes induced by the antigen, but rather on the status of the antibody forming cellular substratum at the time of or during the first hours following irradiation.

[学科分类] 生物科学（综合）